Snow Summit - March 1, 2016: Winter Storm Jonas (Public Safety Perspective)

1. Snow Summit
March 1, 2016
Winter Storm Jonas (Public Safety Perspective)

2. Winter Storm Jonas

3. Winter Storm Jonas
 Preplanning worked well
 Multi-agency conference calls on January 20 and 21
 Included relevant agencies, all Dep. Co. Execs, and Chief Financial Officer
 Wide-ranging discussion from resources and response strategies to cost tracking
 Common situational awareness, informed decision-making for response strategies,
closures/delays, etc.
 Decision to close County government/courts at noon on Friday, January 22
 Fluid decision-making, original decision was to close at 1:30 pm, changed to noon
 Safety of community and County staff important
 Setting example for others
 County government/courts closure decisions for Monday & Tuesday, January 25/26
 Not taken lightly
 Safety overall is focus
 Helps public safety agencies, VDOT, etc.

4. Winter Storm Jonas
 Safety as key focus area
 For community and County staff
 ex., “white out conditions” overnight Friday into Saturday
 Agency safety officers and EOC Safety Officer
 Internal and external public messaging focused on safety (OPA, PIOs)
 Public messaging /outreach
 Effective model for future events
 Advance planning/discussion on common messaging
 ex., “Stay off the roads”, “Help clear fire hydrants”, “Shovel safely”, “Neighborhoods! Mobilize for Sidewalk
Snow Removal”
 Message sequencing and avoiding message “clutter”
 Extensive/effective use of social media
 Team approach
 Media briefing, January 21, at PSTOC
 Chairman, County Exec., Chiefs Roessler and Bowers, Roy Shrout, James Patteson, and Tom Biesiadnay
 Media briefing with Governor McAuliffe, January 24

5. Winter Storm Jonas
 Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
 Good cross-agency, cross-discipline collaboration and engagement throughout event
 Effective communication/coordination with the Snow Removal Operations Center (MSMD), FMD,
and other agency liaisons
 Effective/improved use of technology – EDGR, WebEOC, GIS mapping
 Operational updates were effective
 NWS, FCPS, and VDOT joined key calls
 Calls for service
 Moderate, majority were EMS
 Vehicle crashes were low
 including reportable and non-reportable (accident policy)
 number of vehicles stuck, abandoned, etc.
 Power outages were low
 Original forecast concern was heavy, wet snow and high winds
 Outages would be a significant complicating factor

6. Challenges
 High snowfall total
 Road conditions
 Disappearing lanes, snow windrows, high piles of plowed snow blocking motorist
visibility, blocked ingress/egress
 Capacity for clearing County facilities (Priority 1)
 And other facilities such as the hypothermia shelters
 Emergency/public safety vehicle access to neighborhoods
 Types of assigned vehicles for public safety
 Virginia National Guard allocation/assignments
 Sidewalks & corners
 Volunteers
 Good coordination overall with Volunteer Fairfax in the EOC
 Good volunteer base for extra vehicles/drivers
 Fewer for increased requests for helping some residents (ie, elderly, disabled) with sidewalks,
driveways – future follow-up and planning focus

7. Questions